Crime & Federalism: Overcriminalization

In the United States Constitution, ordinary ethics was enforced by criminal law correspond to the moral values of the Calvinistic church.

It has been suggested that white collar crimes be removed from the criminal justice body also and determined in separate categories of law, depending on the nature of the crime (Beale, 2005, 748). many a(prenominal) a(prenominal) morality laws have been on the books for countless years, usually in aver legislation and not in the federal official system, which is comm sole(prenominal) reserved for more serious crimes such as assess evasion, treason and such.

Examples of outdated laws argon those which prohibited certain behaviors on Sundays - the "blue laws" which originated because of the Christian tradition of going to church on Sundays (Beale, 2005, 750). umteen legal powers still have laws on their books pertaining to spitting, swearing and blasphemy. Many morality breaches are also on the books, though the fabric Penal Code suggests that chastity and fidelity within sexual union are the concern of the bride and groom and not the law. They should not be covered under the laws against fornication, cohabitation and fornication.

Even though contemporary morality has changed vastly since these laws were written, many states still wage for these "crimes" (Beale, 2005, 752). In nigh one quarter of the 50 states and the District of Columbia, fornication and cohabitation are criminal offenses, and half the states and the military also consider adultery as a crime (752). Ever

Mills harm principle, published in 1859, suggested that an act should be criminal only if it harmed another, should not be illegalized solely to baffle harm to the person committing the act (except children and incomeptents), and it is never proper to criminalize an act just because the thought of it gives offense to others (Richards, 1982). These are big(a) reasons which should be followed today, particularly in respect to morality laws.

The discipline to privacy has been involved in the United States to invalidate many of these crimes on the books, such as the right to contraceptives and the right to an abortion. hopefully it will extend to more moral crimes and that revisions will be made to reduce overcriminalization and take outdated crimes off the books. The system is crowded enough with legitimate cases - it does not need to prosecute behavior that is normal.

Beale, S.S. (2005). The many faces of overcriminalization: From morals and mattress tags to overfederalization. Retrieved Feb. 8, 2006 from

Richards, D.A.J. ((1982). Sex, doses, death and the law. Retrieved Feb. 8, 2006 from

Not only have the number of state crimes increased, but those of federal offenses similarly (Beale, 2005, 753). Many crimes are now considered criminal offenses at twain the state and the federal level, such as assault, domestic violence, murder, weapons offenses, drug offenses, fraud, extortion, bribery and robbery. This is a distinct break from tradition, where federal jurisdiction pertains only to postal crimes, tax crimes, and immigration crimes, powers vested in the federal court system by Congress. Lesser crimes were always state matters.

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